Road carnage: Who is to blame?

Arusha. It has been a mourning season this month for the road users as more lives are lost on the highways.
In less than two weeks alone, over 50 people have died and many more injured in multiple crashes across the country.
Two questions loom large; who is to blame for the rising carnage and secondly what should be done to stem the tragic deaths?
If statements often made by the public officials are anything to go by,then it is from the Traffic Police this time around.
They have announced a crackdown on defective vehicles and negligent drivers and other measures to contain the situation.
However,stakeholders in the transport sector and road users believe much has to be done to curb the road tragedies.
Much concern is on the passenger carriers where most lives are lost with little to cheer for the survivors due to severe injuries.
Statistics indicate that deaths from the road accidents in Tanzania accounts for over 40 percent of all injuries.
For every death occurring due to road accidents,there are 50 more survivors with permanent disability and deformity.
A motorist in Arusha Abraham Silayo has attributed the rising accidents to various causes, one of them the incompetency of the drivers.
“Many people take for granted the recruitment of drivers of the passenger service vehicles (PSVs),” he said on Friday.
He went on: “A PSV driver is no ordinary driver. They have the lives of their passengers on their hands.”
For instance, a competent driver would ensure the vehicle was in perfect order before commencing on a long route.
He rooted for reinstatement of the speed governors for long route buses “in order to control and limit the speed.”
For Mr Silayo,a young motorist, fatal accidents from the private cars were equally a matter of gave concern.
“Drunken driving is the main cause and this is notorious in Arusha. Alcohol testing could provide a solutions,” he told The Citizen.
Cargo lorries are involved in accidents  because their drivers are often tired for driving long distances without a rest.
He said mini buses (Hiace) and other PSVs like Coaster should not be allowed to operate on long distance routes.
“Why should minibuses be allowed to carry passengers from Arusha to Karatu, a distance of 150 kilometres?” he asked.
Coasters are also reported to operate passenger service from Arusha to Singida and to Dar es Salaam, some 350 and 670km respectively away.
Mr Abbas Kimaro, an Arusha trader said most of the fatal accidents on the country’s highways were caused by negligence of the drivers.
The condition of the roads, especially absence of road signs to assist the drivers, are also to blame for the carnage.
He cited the recent accident in Mbeya where the road signs were not visible enough to enable the driver avoid crashing.
Incidentally, Mr Kimaro exonerated the traffic police, saying they were not “directly” to blame for the crashes after the vehicle checks.
“Some unruly drivers would just speed after such checks. Cameras by the traffic police have not helped check this,” he said.
Remarks by some motorists somehow concurred with those of the Traffic Police Commandant Wilbroad Mutafungwa.
At the Inyala accident spot in Mbeya Region where 19 people were killed recently he was not amused by the road section.
The portion of the highway leading to some southern highland regions and southern Africa countries is narrow with a steep gradient.
Mr Mutafungwa ordered the completion of the Inyala Lorry Inspection Centre and erection of an embankment to improve safety.
He said the nationwide operation to control road carnage would also involve ‘alcohol tests’ to drivers so as to apprehend those driving under the influence of alcohol.
However,repeated promises by the Traffic Police and other government bodies on how to curb the road accidents have not gone well with some stakeholders.
The Tanzania Bus Owners Association (Taboa) secretary general Joseph Priscus wondered as to why the speed limit was not enforced.
“Traffic police are all the way from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza with their cameras. Why do they fail to nab over speeding drivers?” he asked.
He also called on Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) to come out with more rules and enforcement measures on the road safety.
Mr Reuben Shija,an estate agent based here, said it was unfortunate some paved roads have turned out to be a curse in disguise.
“Most of our network is surfaced with tarmac. This has fuelled speeding,” he told The Citizen yesterday.
According to him,drunken driving was common among the cargo lorries’’ drivers, and suggested construction of more humps.
The police in collaboration with  Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads) and other agencies should identify the ‘black spots’ that are notorious for accidents.
A string of accidents that occurred in recent weeks include the one on August 10 in Shinyanga Region in which 20 people were killed
A day later, six people travelling to the Lake Zone regions from Arusha died in Singida Region when their vehicle veered off the road.
Four died and many injured in subsequent days in Morogoro and Tanga regions before the horrific one in Mbeya Region early this week.
Five other people died during a road crash in Manyoni District, Singida Region two days ago after a bus they were travelling in overturned.
Surveys carried years ago indicate that 78 percent of road accidents in Tanzania are caused by human errors.
These include negligence by the drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and other road users such as the bicycle riders and cart pullers.
Only 12 percent of the accidents are attributed to poor infrastructure. Nearly 4,000 lives are lost every year.
Severe injuries are estimated to be close to 500 while the total number of accidents are estimated to be well above 6,000 annually.
The economic impact of the road mayhem- apart from lives lost-  is estimated to account for three percent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Furthermore, statistics indicate that between 2010 until October 2020 at least 32,899 people were killed in road accidents in Tanzania.
At least 129,064 were injured in a total of  142,140 accidents recorded in a 10-year span.